Fujian, Rheinland-Pfalz Eye Cooperation at Sister Cities Forum

A China-Germany forum on cities and provinces partnership was held virtually on June 15. Convened under the theme of “Green Development and Digitalization – New Dynamics of Cooperation”, the forum brought together nearly 300 participants across sectors, including representatives from sister provinces/states and cities of the two countries.

Lin Songtian, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), said that sister provinces/states and cities form a strong bond that links the two peoples. He expressed the readiness to work with German counterparts to build more platforms for the friendly exchanges and mutually-beneficial cooperation between subnational governments, sister provinces/states and cities, and companies of the two countries.

Guo Ningning, Executive Vice Governor of Fujian Province, highlighted the strong foundation, fruitful outcomes, and great prospects of green cooperation between Fujian and Rheinland-Pfalz. She said, under the support of CPAFFC, Fujian is ready to work with Rheinland-Pfalz to further strengthen the communication and synergy between governments, enterprises, universities and research institutes of the two sides, explore low-carbon and eco-friendly technologies, and opened up new areas of cooperation on green industries.

Rheiland-Pfalz State Secretary Heike Raab noted the sustained and close high-level exchanges between Rheinland-Pfalz and Fujian since the twinning. She said that Rheinland-Pfalz looked forward to strengthening cooperation with Fujian to scale new heights in biotechnology, digitalization, and artificial intelligence.

The forum is one of the celebration events for the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Germany.